(Residential) Real Estate Property Taxes: 102

Clients frequently ask me about other property tax related issues, including questions about applying for a refund for the 4% legal residence exemption, the Homestead Tax Exemption, and other ways to potentially reduce their property tax liability.  Because these questions are so common, I want to provide a plain English overview of those topics here:

4% Legal Residence Exemption – Request for Refund

If you purchased a home and live in it as your primary, owner occupied residence, but you forgot to apply for the 4% legal residence exemption, South Carolina law allows you to apply for a refund of “property taxes overpaid if the property was eligible for the 4% legal residence exemption” as long as you can establish that the property in question was in fact your legal, owner occupied residence during the year for which you are seeking a refund.  It is important to note the refund is limited to two years. If you failed to apply for your 4% legal residence exemption and didn’t realize it until five years later, you could only apply for a refund for the most recent two years, not all five years.  Generally, you would fill out your 4% legal residence exemption application together with a separate (but similar) 4% legal residence exemption – request for refund application.  You will have to provide copies of several documents showing that your address is the property address but, in applying for the refund for the previous years, you will also have to provide two letters from utility companies that verify your address and the date which you started receiving service in your name at that address. A copy of the Request for Refund application can be found here:

https://www.charlestoncounty.org/files/forms/tax/LegalRes-Refund.pdf?701

Homestead Tax Exemption

Sometimes clients refer to the “homestead exemption” when they are really talking about the 4% legal residence exemption – they are two very different laws.  In South Carolina, the “Homestead Tax-Exemption Program” is for homeowners who are 65 years old or older, totally disabled, and/or totally blind.  The law exempts up to $50,000 of the value of the property for purposes of calculating your property tax liability for that particular property.  There are certain requirements that must be met (you must have been a legal resident of South Carolina for at least 1 year, and you must have been approved for the 4% legal residence exemption).  The application for the homestead tax exemption is completely separate from the application for the 4% legal residence exemption.  There are additional requirements depending on the basis for your application for the homestead exemption (for example, if you are applying because of disability or blindness, you will have to provide certain documentation from a state or federal agency that is authorized to certify the disability or blindness).  A copy of the Homestead Exemption application can be found here:

https://www.charlestoncounty.org/departments/auditor/files/Homestead-Exemption-Application.pdf?701

Other Exemptions That May Reduce Your Tax Bill

If you own and reside in your home as your primary residence, you may be entitled to certain exemptions that could reduce your tax bill if you are:

• a POW, Medal of Honor recipient or a military veteran that is totally disabled from a service-related cause, or if you are the surviving spouse, or
• a paraplegic or hemiplegic, a person with Parkinson’s Disease or Multiple Sclerosis or ALS, or their surviving spouse, or
• a former law enforcement officer permanently and totally disabled as a result of a law enforcement service connected disability, or
• a former firefighter permanently and totally disabled as a result of a firefighting service connected disability.

If you believe you qualify for one of these exemptions, application should be made through the South Carolina Department of Revenue (Phone: 843-852-3600).